MyHVP Newsletter

Board of Editors 2022

ISSN: 2550-1747 | Volume 07 | Issue 01| June & December 2022

Editor in Chief

Professor Dr. Zilfalil Alwi

Managing Editor

Dr. Nik Norliza Nik Hassan

Editorial Board Members

Prof. Ida Madieha binti Azmi

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Farid Johan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosnah Bahar

Mr. Abdul Halim Fikri Bin Hashim

English Editor

Amyzar Alwi

Call for papers

© 2022. All rights reserved. The information in this newsletter is provided by the Malaysian Node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP) members including South-east Asian Node (HVPSEA Node) for educational / information purpose only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care and medical advice. The contents express the opinions of the authors who alone are responsible for their view expressed. MyHVP does not accept any legal responsibility for their contents.

Writers, Invited!

MyHVP Newsletter is issued biannually. For the coming issue, the public from various fields and specialties are invited to their lived experience in dealing with the issues of medicine or biomedicine. Writers can contribute their writing based on these following criteria:

1. Length (Max. 1page A4 size, and it may be edited for our use)

2. The committee has the right to share your writing for further issues.

3. To suit the needs of the publication, and your writing won’t be returned

4. Emailed the article to myhvp@usm.my

Published by Malaysian Node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP) School of Medical Sciences

Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus

16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia

Tel: +6097676531 /6543 | Email: myhvp@usm.my

In November 2022, Universiti Sains Malaysia was awarded the UNESCO Chair on Human Genetics of Thalassaemia, marking the inaugural chair on human genetics awarded by UNESCO. The establishment of this UNESCO Chair is closely associated to the Human Variome Project (HVP), which has been an official NGO partner of UNESCO since 2011. To date, the project has expanded to include two initiatives focused on common diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) (Thalassaemia) and another common disease in high-income countries (Breast cancer).

The UNESCO Chair on Human Genetics of Thalassemia is a 4-year project chaired by me. The main activities of this program are online teaching and advocacy programs aimed at promoting knowledge and capacity building in human genetics among LMIC by taking thalassaemia as a model genetic disorder and, thereby, contribute to reducing the genetic disease burden. It is estimated that this program will benefit about 12 countries of LMIC in Asia.

This year, MyHVP has been awarded the “KPT Prihatin, Komuniti Sejahtera (KRIS)” grant to implement the EduVariome program. This program is an awareness-raising platform to educate the public, especially secondary school form 4 students, on the burden of thalassaemia disease. The program will involve 30 secondary schools in 8 Kelantan districts with more than 1000 students as participants. We hope that this program will encourage other institutions and organizations to conduct and participate in these activities to improve healthcare and raise awareness of inherited diseases in our country.

We are pleased to inform all the MyHVP members of the successful publication of the June 2022 issue of our journal, the Malaysian Journal of Human Genetics (MJHG). Meanwhile, the December 2022 issue is in the process of publication. For the upcoming June 2023 issue, the Editorial Board seeks submission of more articles from MyHVP members. Your continuous contribution and support are pivotal to the success of our journal publication.

If you have articles of interest to contribute to this newsletter, please contact us with any news, announcements, or views in your field of study by emailing it to me at zilfalil@gmail.com or to any members of the editorial board.

Thank you.

Prof. Dr. Zilfalil Alwi Head, Malaysian Node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP)